Part 1 – A Fox Confined

I am a city by the sea
sinking into a toxic tide.
I am strange to myself, as though someone unknown
had poisoned my mother as she carried me.

—Rainer Maria Rilke, Book of Hours



They believe safety is to confine me for an eternity.  But the mirror shows not the darkness that has long existed inside them.  A cage will not end destruction. I have an eternity to bring them a slow, steady ruin.

Jayden caged

They confined me so they can be free.

  Jayden caged4

Jayden caged3

How much control have they when frozen rain falls?

Jayden snow

Jayden snow3

And when a heavy snowfall descends where there was once heat.
What of your freedom then?
When does it become unbearable?

Jayden Hail2

What if it too became unbearable and eternal?


The snow continued to fall.  One year had passed since there was daylight.

Snow one year

They say the caged one cast darkness upon us.

Ara Frost

They say the blizzards imprisoned us. 




But when darkness fell and they all left, tranquility. 

Ara Frost 3

What will I say, once I find the one in a cage?







She could feel a change in temperature as she neared the last tower of the mausoleum. Although the blizzards persisted, in this area there generated heat.

Sent by your kin to plead me to end their time of darkness?

My “kin” left this forsaken land months ago.  I am here to meet the one who bestowed tranquility.

This cage…it has no door…no way out.

A gift from your kin.

The marks on your flesh…how did they come about?

A gift from my kin…I am Ara Frost.  What is the name of the one in the eternal cage?

Jayden Fox.

A recounting of her external scars: the evolution of her internal confinement.

Who is the one truly locked in a cage?

Those responsible for the marks on your flesh, where are they now?

They are of no importance now.  I am not defined by the scars of my past.  But now, I must leave.

Leave, why?

It is simple really.  This conversation, it is not who I am…

and something tells me it is not who you are either.

Will you visit again?
For how long?

Until we are both free.

Wily Fox conceals a truth…

Her visits will cease once we are both free.

Until we are both free.

Wily Fox, indeed.

And so a week passed.  Ara had not come for a visit.  Jayden was free as he had always been, even when placed in a supposed eternal cage.  At first light he would return, as he had many times before in order to conceal a truth.

He knew he did not dislike Ara, as he did her kind, but he was not fond of her either.

He began to keep track of days.  What is time to the one who is immortal?

And then there she was on the eighth day.

A force creates just as easily as it destroys.

You have returned.

Well, yes.  But from now on, there will be no disclosing of who we are.

So, what will you talk about then?

I brought with me a book which I will read to you.  Every week, I will be here on the same day, same time and read to you.

My Roses

Yes, my joy wants to amuse,
Every joy wants to amuse.
Would you like to pick my roses?

You must stoop and stick your noses
Between thorns and rocky views,
And not be afraid of bruises.

For my joy—enjoys good teases.
For my joy—enjoys good ruses.
Would you like to pick my roses?

—Friedrich Nietzsche


There is much I drop and spill:
I am full of scorn, you think.
If your beaker is too full,
There is much you drop and spill
Without scorning what you drink.

—Friedrich Nietzsche

And so, week after week, Ara would return on the eighth day and read.  Though she would not disclose more of who she was, the choice in literature was enough to continue these meetings.  Sometimes they would pause and talk about what she had just read.  Other times there was silence, then she would quietly slip away.

The Unfree Man

  1. He stands and harks: what does he hear?

What sound is ringing in his ear?

What struck him down? What mortal fear?

  1. Who once wore chains, will always think

That he is followed by their clink.

—Friedrich Nietzsche

The books she read, the books she left
filled with character, she is.


Interpreting myself, I always read
Myself into my books.  I clearly need
Some help.  But all who climb on their own way
Carry my image, too, into the breaking day.

—Friedrich Nietzsche

Quote from Nietzsche’s For Your Consideration:

Unbound Fox imprisoned.

Is it the cunning look of a Fox?

Or is it a Fox inclined to guide her out of her cage?

Months have passed of regular visits with Jayden.  Though the blizzards have continued, there are moments of daylight.  Today, her visit is one day earlier and without a book…

She suspected from the beginning.

Swift, clever Fox, he is.

I want you to be silent and listen.

I came here to find you out of your cage, because I believe you are not what you seem.  It is unreasonable for a human to be able to survive being locked away for as long as you have and to look as you do.  A reasonable person would reach the same conclusion: a human, would not survive.

It does not interest me to learn who or what you are. It is, however, important for me to ask why you continue to pretend to be confined to this cage.

A fool, she is not, but will she ever learn the true intention of this Fox?

An even more relevant question, why you continue to visit though you suspect I am not confined?

You choose to respond with a question.

It is the only response to that question you will get.

You believe I am like them?
Your kind hunted and destroyed my kin for centuries.  There is nothing left, I am the last of them.
Your dislike for them, transferred to me.  I see.  I was mistaken about believing we had something other than hatred in common. It is time for me to go, then.

Perhaps, it is time for you to leave.

And so Ara quietly slips away into all that is cold and dark.

The look of a Fox filled with hatred, it is not.

I was gravely mistaken.  Whatever he is, my kind did an unforgivable thing.

The last of its kind.

Summary video – Part 1

















4 thoughts on “Part 1 – A Fox Confined

  1. Goodness. Great read. Your pictures are beautiful, I love how they capture moments. The words were very poetic and free flowing.


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